Miriam

Miriam
(Mihr´ee-uhm)

The sister of Moses and Aaron. We first hear of her when the infant Moses was placed in a basket on the Nile and his sister (not named here) watched from a distance; when the baby was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, the sister offered to find a Hebrew wet nurse and fetched Moses’s mother (Exod 2:4-8). After the exodus, Miriam had a prominent position among the women, for (Exod 15:20-21) records her leading the women in the victory song after the events at the Red Sea. Miriam is called a prophetess in this passage. She later considered her prophecy equal to that of Moses when she and Aaron complained about the marriage of Moses to the Cushite woman (Num 12); for that, she was struck with leprosy and was healed a week later after Aaron asked Moses to intercede for her. Miriam was buried at Kadesh.

Presented by:

Bible Odyssey has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.